Straightening Roller Unit

ABSTRACT

A straightening roller unit for steel material in wire, rod, or strip form that is to be straightened with straightening rollers cooperating in pairs, which are configured to be positioned against the material to be straightened and to be raised from it. The straightening rollers are driven, and the advancement force required for the straightening operation is introduced into the material to be straightened by friction of the straightening rollers.

The invention relates to a straightening roller unit for steel material in wire, rod, or strip form that is to be straightened, in particular wires, rods, profile sections, or strips, with straightening rollers cooperating in pairs, which can be positioned against the material to be straightened and can be raised from it.

Given the ever more stringent demands for energy efficiency of machines and systems for straightening such materials that are to be straightened, the energy budget in the field of roller straightening using advancing rollers has been investigated. The outcome of this investigation is that a substantial proportion of the energy used is lost from rolling and friction losses caused by the drive wheels or drive rollers. Moreover, the proportion of energy for accelerating these drive units is considerable, because of the inertia.

The invention seeks to create an improved straightening roller unit which for instance precedes a wire bending system and which with less energy expenditure than before can be driven and used for processing round or angular, rod-like or coiled material to be straightened. The invention achieves this in that the straightening rollers are driven, and the advancement force required for the straightening operation is introduced into the material to be straightened by means of friction of the straightening rollers.

Thus in the invention, the separate drive wheels previously used are dispensed with. The advancement force required for the straightening operation is instead exerted directly via the straightening rollers themselves.

According to the invention, the straightening rollers can be driven individually or jointly.

Preferably, it is provided that the straightening rollers are coupled to associated drive elements, which are drivable by a drive device via a driving-force distributor gear.

In a further feature of the invention, the positioning of the straightening rollers against the material to be straightened can be executed without interrupting the nonpositive advancement engagement.

Within the scope of the invention, the straightening rollers can be positioned against the material to be straightened and raised from it individually by hand or in motor-driven fashion.

Alternatively, all the straightening rollers can be positioned against and raised from the material to be straightened jointly by hand or via a motor-driven central adjusting device.

Thus within the scope of the invention, depending on the geometry of the material to be straightened and the outcome of straightening, the straightening rollers can be positioned against the material to be straightened individually, manually or in motor-driven fashion, or jointly, manually or in motor-driven fashion.

The processing of the material to be straightened can be done in a single pass or in parallel passes.

All the drive and positioning operations can be executed by means of a program controller.

The invention and further features thereof will be described in further detail below in terms of exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic elevation view of a portion of the straightening roller unit of the invention in the direction of the arrow I in FIG. 3;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the illustration of FIG. 1 with housing plates partly removed, in order to make the drive device visible;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the straightening roller unit in the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the straightening roller unit, with straightening rollers positioned against the material to be straightened;

FIG. 5 shows the fragmentary, exploded, detailed view of the support of the straightening rollers and drive elements in the main housing plate;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view with straightening rollers positioned against the material to be straightened; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 show details in sectional views along the lines A-A and B-B in FIG. 6.

The straightening roller unit shown is intended for rectilinear straightening of elongated material 1 to be straightened, such as wires, rods, profile sections, strips, and so forth. The material 1 to be straightened can have an angular or round cross section and can be cut to shorter lengths or be rod form or coil form. A housing 2 (FIG. 3) essentially comprising three joined-together plates 2′, 2″, 2′″, receives one or more pairs, connected in series with one another in the advancement direction P, of upper and lower straightening rollers 6, which are disposed on both sides of an advancement plane for material to be straightened. A drive device 3, for instance electrical, mounted on the outside of one housing plate 2″, serves to drive a gear system 4, explained hereinafter, for distributing the advancement force, exerted by the drive device 3, to the various straightening rollers 6.

In the housing 2, there are also a manually or motor-actuated individual adjusting device 7 and a manually or motor-actuated central adjusting device 8 for the straightening rollers 6. The motor actuation is triggered via a program controller, not shown. The housing 2 at the same time serves to protect against soil and mechanical damage, for instance from the material 1 to be straightened.

The drive device 3, triggered by the program controller, not shown, has a drive pinion 5 for the distributing gear system 4; this system, beginning with a distributor gear wheel 5′ and an intermediate spline shaft 5″ that are supported in a middle housing plate 2″', distributes the driving output of the driving pinion 5 to the associated straightening rollers 6 via a series of gear wheels 4′ meshing with one another. In the example shown, all the straightening rollers 6 are driven. In an embodiment not shown, the gear wheels 4′ can be driven individually. Instead of the gear wheels 4′, belts, for instance, may also be provided.

The geometry of this distributing gear system 4 is selected such that the upper straightening rollers 6, disposed on the power takeoff side, can be positioned independently of one another or jointly against the material 1 to be straightened, to suit the requirements of the straightening geometry and the straightening quality as well as the advancement force, without losing or interrupting the nonpositive advancement engagement in the process.

The straightening rollers 6 are embodied as double-track guidelines; the lower straightening rollers 6 are supported in a bearing housing 6′ supported rotatably in the housing plate 2′, while conversely the upper bearing housing 6″, with the upper straightening rollers 6 supported in it, is fixedly connected via the two rockers 14 to the lower bearing housing 6′, as FIGS. 2 and 5 illustrate.

The straightening rollers 6 and driving gear wheels 4′, disposed above the material 1 to be straightened, are connected to the adjusting devices 7, 8 via the individual adjusting device 8′ and via the bearing housing 6″. The center of rotation 4″ of the individual adjusting device 8′ is positioned such that when the straightening rollers 6 are being positioned against the material 1 to be straightened, the gear wheels 4′ are always in engagement.

This construction makes it impossible for the entire distributor gear 4 to pivot in the direction of the arrows P2, P3 (FIG. 1) about bearing points, which according to FIG. 5 are defined by the axes 4″ of the upper straightening rollers 6 that are supported in the main housing plate 2′.

The straightening rollers 6, serving simultaneously as advancing elements for the material 1 to be straightened, can be embodied with either a smooth surface or a profiled surface, to increase friction. In particular, the profile of the straightening rollers 6 can be V-shaped, as in the exemplary embodiment shown, or circular or elliptical, or any arbitrary other shape.

The adjustment and positioning of the straightening rollers 6 against the material 1 to be straightened is effected transversely to the advancement direction (arrow P4 in FIG. 4); in the example shown, it is effected via the central adjusting device 8 and the individual adjusting device 8′. Alternatively, linear positioning is also possible.

The upper straightening rollers 6 can also be positioned against the material 1 to be straightened individually by hand or by motor in the direction of the arrow P1 in FIG. 1 via the adjusting spindle 7.

If all the straightening rollers 6 are positioned by motor jointly in the direction of the arrow P3 in FIG. 1, via the central actuator 9 of the central adjusting device 8, the actuator being supported in the main housing plate 2′ at 9′, then the processing of threading the material 1 to be straightened in, for instance, is made easier. The actuator 9 can be embodied as a hydraulic cylinder or electric motor or the like. The adjustment values for the various materials to be straightened of the adjusting devices 7, 8, which are triggered via the program controller, not shown, can be stored in memory in the control device in partial or fully automatic operation, so that when the material 1 to be straightened is frequently changed, the adjustment values can be rapidly restored.

The actuator 9 of the central adjusting device 8 can also, depending on requirements, be actuated by hand, for instance by means of a hand crank, or by motor via manual keys and by means of the overriding program controller.

A further hydraulic actuator 10 (FIG. 3), braced on the housing 2, serves to adjust the straightening rollers 6 transversely to the straightening plane, in the direction of the arrow P10 in FIG. 3. This actuator 10, too, can be embodied, instead of hydraulically actuatably, for manual or electric motor operation; its mode of operation can also be regulated by means of the program controller. At the same time, it serves to compensate for any torsional stresses that might occur in the material 1 to be straightened. Finally, a retraction clamping device 13 for the material 1 to be straightened is provided on the inlet side.

FIGS. 6 through 8 illustrate the operation of the straightening unit for straightening two wires 11, 12, guided in parallel in double-track straightening rollers 6. For supplying a downstream wire bending machine, it is often necessary to straighten an odd number of wires. For that purpose, according to the invention, the drive of one pair of straightening rollers 6 can be stopped in alternation. In FIG. 7, the wire 11 is being straightened, while the wire 12 is conversely at a standstill, and the associated straightening rollers 6 rotate idly in bearings 15. In FIG. 8, the situation is the reverse.

The straightening unit of the invention is capable of keeping the material 1 to be straightened exactly in position, regardless of the number of straightening tracks, and furthermore makes it possible to reverse the advancement direction. For threading in the material 1 to be straightened, a drive device, not shown, can be provided upstream and/or downstream of the straightening unit.

Within the scope of the invention, the path of the material 1 to be straightened can be an arbitrary path curve, on which the positions required for straightening are superimposed.

It is understood that the invention can be modified in various ways within the scope of the concept of the invention; in particular, this is true for the embodiment of the drives and the geometry of the straightening rollers.

For instance, the straightening roller unit, in straightening wires, can cover a currently usual diameter range for the material to be straightened of 3 to 20 mm. In straightening devices, the diameter range of the straightening rollers 6 is typically between 50 and 150 mm.

The invention is constructed in modular fashion in such a way that on the inlet side, depending on requirements, electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic motors and latch drives can be provided directly or via gears with a fixed or variable gear ratio, such as a shift transmission 

1. A straightening roller unit for steel material in wire, rod, or strip form that is to be straightened with straightening rollers cooperating in pairs, which are configured to be positioned against the material to be straightened and to be raised from it, wherein the straightening rollers are driven, and the advancement force required for the straightening operation is introduced into the material to be straightened by friction of the straightening rollers.
 2. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein the straightening rollers are drivable individually or jointly.
 3. The straightening roller unit of claim 1 wherein the straightening rollers are coupled to associated drive elements, which are drivable by a drive device via a driving-force distributor gear.
 4. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein the positioning of the straightening rollers against the material to be straightened is executed without interrupting the nonpositive advancement engagement.
 5. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein the straightening rollers are configured to be positioned against the material to be straightened and raised from it individually by hand or in motor-driven fashion.
 6. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein all the straightening rollers are configured to be positioned against and raised from the material be straightened jointly by hand or via a motor-driven central adjusting device.
 7. The straightening roller unit of claim 1 wherein the straightening rollers are embodied in smooth or profiled form.
 8. The straightening roller unit of claim 7, wherein the profile section of the straightening rollers is V-shaped, circular, elliptical, or any other arbitrary shape.
 9. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein the straightening rollers are embodied as double-track straightening rollers for simultaneous or alternating straightening of two materials to be straightened guided in parallel.
 10. The straightening roller unit of claim 3, wherein the driving-force distributor gear has pairs of upper and lower gear wheels, associated with the straightening rollers, the axes of which gear wheels, like the axes of the straightening rollers, are coupled via rockers, and the lower gear wheels are supported in a main housing plate via double bearings, while conversely the upper gear wheels are supported in the same main housing plate via the rocker and a rotatably supported bearing housing and are coupled to a central adjusting device and an individual adjusting device.
 11. The straightening roller unit of claim 10, wherein both the individual adjusting device and the central adjusting device are arranged to be acted upon by a motor-driven actuator.
 12. The straightening roller unit of claim 10, wherein the individual adjusting device has an adjusting spindle, which connects the individual adjusting device to the central adjusting device.
 13. The straightening roller unit of claim 1, wherein at least one of the straightening rollers is adjustable transversely to the straightening plane by an actuator.
 14. The straightening roller unit of claim 13, wherein the actuator is actuatable manually, by motor, or in program-controlled fashion. 